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[corey_russell]

Serg BlackStrider wrote...

Sad news this morning, Corey... I never trigger those traps by PC. Usually Mazzy or Jaheira buffed with Potion of Invulnerability do that.

That would certainly be safer. Not sure I had a potion of invulnerability available. I really didn't know cloudkills kill mages so fast, they don't kill my fighters fast...this is my first mage that ever made it to BG 2.

[Grond0]

Sorry to hear that Corey.

[Gate70]

Use that information to your advantage Corey - target enemy mages with spells that have a save vs death.

You've highlighted the weaker saving throws vs death that arcane casters (and thieves) have. Target them with appropriate spells such as Finger of Death instead of wasting it against fighters who are less likely to be affected, and so on.

At least that's my understanding of how finesse can be used, finding the enemy weakness and exploiting it instead of using brute force. I'm still learning this but the likes of Serg, Alesia and Grond0 are some way ahead of me.

[Alesia_BH]

Sorry for you loss Corey. 

Any recent thoughts on what's up next?

corey_russell wrote...
I really didn't know cloudkills kill mages so fast, they don't kill my fighters fast...this is my first mage that ever made it to BG 2.

It's not a Cloudkill: It's an Incendiary Cloud- hence the comparatively high damage. For future reference, a pair of L3s can get you through those traps safely: Minor Spell Deflection can foil the Disintegrate trap, Protection from Fire can cover the other two. 

Anyhoo. Best of luck with your next run.


A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 09 juin 2013 - 09:43 .

[Alesia_BH]

Gate70 wrote...
You've highlighted the weaker saving throws vs death that arcane casters (and thieves) have. Target them with appropriate spells such as Finger of Death instead of wasting it against fighters who are less likely to be affected, and so on.

(Psst. FoD is a save v. spells.)

[Gate70]

Ah cr*p - proves my point about not having learnt it!

[Alesia_BH]

Serg BlackStrider wrote...
They were 7 vs Spells and you have 79 hp at the moment (with Girdle of Fortitude and Pale Green Ioun Stone). As Gaius is 17lvl Necromancer so yes, I'm very lucky here that he rolled only 6 on damage side and you made a successful roll vs... My first thought back then was to give Alesia my Belt of Inertial Barrier on the fly but we were too far away from each other... Lesson learned.

Understood. Good thing you had the Pale Green Ioun Stone and a Girdle of Fortitude charge in place.

Best,

A.

[Alesia_BH]

Gate70 wrote...

Ah cr*p - proves my point about not having learnt it!

[Alesia_BH]

Quick Note on Alisa's Game:

Following a brief trip to Watcher's Keep to pick up the Poison Head and the Wand of Spell Striking, Alisa has returned to Amkethran for an ale and a good nights rest. In the morning, she'll head to Sendai's Enclave.

Best,

A.

[Gate70]

Jaheira / Mayhem (wild mage) / Aerie
Anomen and Nalia are recruited as soon as we reach the Copper Coronet, spells are reviewed and after a rest we set off, only to be ambushed by Suna Seni and her slavers. Looting their corpses provides us with more free spells, a better short sword for Nalia and armour plus a mace for Anomen.

The city gates have signs to Trademeet, Windspear, Watchers Keep and the de’Arnise hold. Nalia reluctantly agrees to us visiting Watchers Keep first. Brother Odren has concerns about the ability of Mayhem but backs down when she suggests demonstrating her skills rarely result in wild surges. We purchase a potion case and gem bag from Sister Garlena.

Our luck is in, only mephits guarding the main room of the keep. Once they are dealt with it we wait for Nalia to grab a few items - a case of plenty, ammo belt and a quiver of plenty. Knock / MGoI are used to retrieve a crimson dart and Anomen uses protection from lightning and DUHM to steal some paladin bracers which we can’t use (yet).

Anomen uses lesser restoration on Jaheira, thankful that Aerie kept healing him while he was held - wraiths and shadow fiends being troublesome on one of the rooms. A stone golem would have been beyond our weapons so top marks to Aerie for identifying the golem manual in good time.

(The Anomen romance is new to me so will put up with it to see what happens)

Nalia “remembers” a few details as we arrive at her stately pile, such as the infestation of trolls. Captain Arat hands Nalia 20 easy-bbq arrows of fire and she pronounces us ready to reclaim her home. The first troll injures both Jaheira (AC -2) and Anomen (AC 0) while we take a minute or so to quell it; we could be in for some fun.

So it proves, with each encounter a drawn out affair. Nalia cloudkills some umber hulks towards the end, and then we buff more heavily for TorGal. Anomen is able to stand his ground and once their leader is dead the two remaining trolls are removed.

We return to the Slums where a messenger is waiting for Aerie (groan). Instead we rescue a slave, pay Gaelan Bayle, dispose of Hareishan, fight off some ruffians and a mad cleric then meet up with Aran Linvail. We pick up Renfeld on the way to Quayle, then have to convince Aerie that maybe we should look for a sixth party member before meeting up with Raelis Shai.

Anomen (Fighter 7 > Cleric 9).
Jaheira (Fighter 8 / Druid 10).
Mayhem (Wild Mage 10).
Aerie (Cleric 8 / Mage 9).
Nalia (Thief 4 > Mage 10).

[corey_russell]

Alesia_BH wrote...

Sorry for you loss Corey. 

Any recent thoughts on what's up next?

I never once have played half-orc - going to give one a go. Everyone under the sun has played a berserker, but it's too strong for my tastes (not to mention have already got a berserker to Melissan), thus he's a Half-Orc fighter instead (solo). He's only just got to North of Nashkel, but he's been fun so far.

corey_russell wrote...
I really didn't know cloudkills kill mages so fast, they don't kill my fighters fast...this is my first mage that ever made it to BG 2.

Alesia_BH said...
It's not a Cloudkill: It's an Incendiary Cloud- hence the comparatively high damage. For future reference, a pair of L3s can get you through those traps safely: Minor Spell Deflection can foil the Disintegrate trap, Protection from Fire can cover the other two.

Ah, didn't know that - very good information, will file that away, thank you! 

Alesia_BH  said...
Anyhoo. Best of luck with your next run.

Thanks!

Modifié par corey_russell, 09 juin 2013 - 01:36 .

[Gate70]

Anomen /Jaheira / Mayhem (wild mage) / Aerie / Nalia
We help a trader on our way out of the city gates, spending all our money on his scrolls. Aerie is whining about helping Raelis Shai but the rest of us are determined to find our final (for now) travelling companion. We piece together the clues then Anomen takes on all comers in melee as Nalia and Jaheira use their enchanted weapons to snipe from range. Whenever anything nasty threatens Anomen it is the turn of Aerie and Mayhem to use magic missiles. Finally we reach our destination and Anomen peeps around a door cautiously.

“At last” booms a strident voice “I am rescued from recurring dreams about half-orcs bashing down the cell door and demanding my help”. We hand Mazzy a helmet and better armour, while woefully equipped to continue we suspect this has to be done to keep the halfling warrior travelling with us.

[Gate70]

Trog (Barbarian) /  Korgan / Edwin / Viconia
Edwin is complaining about MaeVar still being alive and that Renal Bloodscalp will soon put a price on our heads. No sooner have we rectified the situation than Korgan complains about not tracking down Valygar so we do that too. What other trivialities will they dream up for us next.

“You must be Trog” says Odren “I’d heard you were heading this way to help us deal with Watchers Keep” (he’s bright enough not to suggest Trog isn’t ready at level 10 but 597k xp).

“Stand aside simi-peon” says Edwin “we have work to do”. Odren is refusing to move, saying we need the services of Helm but Viconia continues “This may only be a mace +1 but Shar gives me strength to sweep you aside”. Odren motions for Brother Pol to hand over the wardstone as her weapon is placed under his chin.

Korgan sets out the rules as he backpacks the wardstone “Finders keepers and anyone who follows us will be the next notch on my axe. Now, guard the entrance and set up a shop for when we return”. Odren opens his mouth to add a few choice Helmite words but Trog shrugs and concludes “Do as you’re told. If you upset these three I’m siding with them and that’s not good for your future, or lack of”.

A short while later Odren grins “No luck eh” he says “I thought you’d not pick much up without a thief. Korgan taps his axe and replies “My hand-held thief worked very well thank you. Now guard the keep while I double some entendres with the sister here”.

Modifié par Gate70, 09 juin 2013 - 02:31 .

[Gate70]

Anomen / Mazzy / Mayhem (wild mage) / Aerie / Nalia / Jaheira : Saints

The temple ruins have various undead scattered through them but we make steady progress. Anomen wants to kill a shadow dragon but Mazzy suggests we kill the Shade Lord first (killed twice as game crashed after first battle), then we leave before he remembers.

With nothing else to do at Umar we  return to the city and Aerie starts whining about visiting Raelis Shai so off we go. Biff the Understudy is so poor that the party even join in the heckling to the best of their ability "oh poor show".

Trog (Barbarian) / Viconia / Edwin / Korgan : Sinners

We tell Lehtinan of the plot against him and he asks us to deal with Hendak. Korgan immediately asks for part-payment and is given some armour, once the deed is done we collect a bastard sword too. Our reputation (5, disliked) is causing Edwin to utter constant and repeated mention of being impressed with our deeds.

The beastmaster has run away (should have agreed to help Hendak then double-crossed him I guess) so we gut Llynis instead. On the way out we butcher Lehtinan too then check Bernard will still trade with us - he will only talk to Trog.

The slaver stockade is next, reckoning we either muscle in on the action or trash the joint. Haegan is the last man standing but has a few moments alone with Edwin before Trog cuts him down. Trog stares expectantly at Viconia until she answers the unasked question “The snide Thayvian will have to stay dead until I’ve rested, it’ll teach him to think his mirrors and globe protect him from axes”. We have to rest as only Edwin has the ability to slay trolls, and they are all that is left. Trog forgets himself and hands 100gp to a child before we depart.

We make a brief detour to stomp on a pet carrion crawler then a kobold shaman starts to remonstrate with us until Edwin injures him with a fireball and a throwing axe finishes the job.

Modifié par Gate70, 09 juin 2013 - 09:35 .

[Gate70]

 Anomen / Mazzy / Mayhem (wild mage) / Aerie / Nalia / Jaheira
We solve the skinner murders on our way to the temple, Nalia putting the disgusting human skin tunic back in a nearby container - who would use such a thing. Ugh.

We must help the everseeing eye of Helm deal with the Unseeing Eye too. First though, Tarnor the Hatchetman. His sort of evil buccaneering (a pirate of the low sewers) can’t be allowed to continue, even if our rest beforehand is interrupted by kobolds. Aerie fireballs them and we stand on their roasted corpses to buff before attacking Tarnor. A remove magic / breach volley helps make light work of them.

[Gate70]

Trog (Barbarian) / Viconia / Edwin / Korgan
We grab the Lilacor sword on the way out of the sewers and head to the Bridge district to see if there is any money behind the skinner murders. A fight is easy stuff for us but there is an argument about who should have the human skin tunic. Edwin finds it a bit restrictive for his magic but still can’t resist the thought of it residing in his backpack so a four way tussle may take some time to conclude.

Modifié par Gate70, 09 juin 2013 - 11:39 .

[Blind_Visionary]

Gate, the Saints/Sinners approach is super interesting! And creative! Bravo! Are you planning on keeping their progress more-or-less parallel?

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 Multiplayer attempt 23 - (final update)
Rue, human inquisitor (Grond0) & Murl, human monk (Gate70)

Murl & Rue protected their record of no deaths, but their run came to an unfortunate end anyway when facing Kangaxx. 

There had been no problems with the other liches (while protected by green scroll) and none were expected against the main (ex-)man.  His first form died rapidly and Kangaxx gave the appropriate conversation while the demi-lich appeared.  Rue continued swinging desultorily with Lilarcor (which can't hurt a demi-lich), while reviewing the contents of her backpack and expecting Murl to do all the hard work with Daystar.  She came back to the action just in time to see Kangaxx utter a stray bit of dialogue before imprisoning Murl.  With no freedom scrolls available until after the Underdark that was the end of the run.

We had a couple of theories about why Kangaxx attacked someone protected by a green scroll.  The first possibility tested was that one of us had managed to try to talk to him instead of attack him, but loading the autosave demonstrated that wouldn't have caused a problem.  Thus we think the issue was that both characters were continuing to attack Kangaxx while he was trying to change into demi-lich form.  The game engine struggles with this sort of thing (think of trolls that refuse to die because you keep hitting them too frequently), so anomalous behaviour is not too much of a surprise.

While not enough of a bug to justify reloading the game, that was a pretty harsh way for this pair to go, so Gate70 and I agreed that we would give them another chance and restart the same characters in Candlekeep.

Modifié par Grond0, 10 juin 2013 - 05:32 .

[Blind_Visionary]

Tragedy strikes again! I Rue the day that Murl fell to Kangaxx... Good luck in Candlekeep! Beware the stray bits of dialogue and other game engine quirks....

Modifié par Blind_Visionary, 10 juin 2013 - 05:39 .

[Alesia_BH]

Quick Note on Alisa's Game:

Alisa has defeated Sendai, recruited Balthazar, and completed the last of the Pocket Plane challenges. She is now resting in her stronghold, prepping for the endgame.

I'll post on Sendai soon.

Best,

A.

Btw. I encountered a bit of a bug. Alisa's buffs foiled the granting of her send Bhaalspawn power: Mass Heal. I'm undecided, but I'm considering using the console to grant it to her. Thoughts? (FYI: It's not a mission critical ability, but it would be nice to have a means of healing Balthazar.)

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 10 juin 2013 - 09:58 .

[Alesia_BH]

Alisa, Half-Elven Jester: Sendai's Lair

Alisa's visit to Sendai's lair was enjoyable though, in the end, a touch anti-climactic: Sendai herself fell quicker than each of her statues and even her welcoming myconids. I'll post on some of the minor encounters here in the interest of demonstrating how Alisa handles large groups of lesser foes, but also to flesh out a post which might otherwise be a bit sparse. Hopefully, some will find this interesting. 

Mushroom Heaven through Thelynn'ss

Alisa completed the opening encounters on a single set of her standard buffs- with the aid of an occasionaly Magic Flute blast. Now with Foebane in the main-hand, Alisa is a tough foe for large groups of lesser foes. Her AC in the negative twenties insures that only criticals land. Many of those are absorbed by Mirror Image and Stoneskins, but since Tenser locked Alisa can't refresh, those eventually run out in longer fights. That's where Foebane comes in: even if her enemies can connect, they can't do so fast enough to over-whelm her Laroch's healing. Alisa's hitpoints don't decline in long fights with lesser foes: they go up. 


The Tunnels

In the tunnels, I decided to see whether Alisa could exceed Alessandra's max hitpoint totals. Alessandra had the advantage of getting up to ten Foebane attacks per round compared to Alisa's five. Alisa, on the other hand, enjoys a higher starting baseline with a Tensered HP total of 270. 

The difference isn't dramatic, but Alisa seems to fall noticeably short of Alessandra's highs: Alisa maxes out just over 400, Alessandra frequently approached 500.


Odamaron

Like his arcane predecessors, Odamaron was stumped by Alisa's buffs. His opening Time Stop->Improved Alacrity expired harmlessly. His second Time Stop yielded some Mordy Swords, but those ultimately would be used against him.


When time resumed, Alisa took down Odamaron's Simmy, and then pulled back -drawing his summoned Mordies to her Time Traps. Carsomyr->Scarlet Ninja to + Belm.


For the sake of completeness, Alisa took out the remaining Mordies. As a reminder, Foebane is a good choice for dropping Mordies without spells. The Ring of the Ram is helpful as well.
 

Ogremoch and Diaytha

With his dispelling melee blows, decent AC, and respectable hitpoint total, Ogremoch was a foe best handled with care. He had a good chance of outlasting Alisa's See Enemy: ProMW Contingency and subsequently punching through Alisa's protections. Alisa used her Time Traps to hedge against that threat. The finishing blow landed just as time resumed: Alisa's fall back batch went unused.


Over on the otherside, Alisa chose caution again- mostly because of the Hive Mother. Alisa's buff regiment is beholder proof, but she felt no need to test that here.

The Demon Knight went first simply because he Teleported Without Error to Alisa and in the process blocked the entrance way. Then it was the Ancient Vamp followed by mommy dearest.


Diaytha, who had taken a few blows before the Time Traps tripped, survived to see time resume thanks to a Santuary cast. Here you can clearly see Diaytha Sanctuaried while Alisa finishes up the last demon.


But once the Sanctuary expired, Diaytha quickly followed.


And that's that for the minor encounters in Sendai's lair. I need to sign off quickly, but I'll follow up with the Sendai enconter shortly.

Best,

A. 

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 10 juin 2013 - 02:37 .

[Alesia_BH]

Alisa v. Sendai (or The Merry Trickster)

Against Sendai, Alisa decided that the best plan was to have no plan at all. Rather than mapping out the encounter in detail, she chose to improvise and go with the flow- an approach that suits a versatile rogue. Happily, Alisa's bag of tricks was more than deep enough to handle all that Sendai could throw at her.

Taking a cue from her M/T predecessor, Alisa decided to open in mindlflayer form- allowing her to breeze through the first two casting statues while leaving her book largely intact. The cleric was dropped within a round under minimal potion buffs. 


The mage tripped a Time Trap upon activation and fell immediately thereafter.


By the time the F/T statue had activated, there were a few drow gathered by the entrance. Quaffing a Potion of Invisibility, permitted Alisa to sing without fear of her backstabbing foe. The song, in turn, granted her the opportunity to break invisibility and finish off the fodder while F/T Sendai stood dumbfounded.


Dragonslayer Detect Invisibility->K'logarath finished her.


Berserker Sendai got the Sling of Seeking


C/M Sendai took a touch more finesse though she too was ultimately felled before she had a chance to take offensive action. A True Sight took care of her Mislead.


Landing an Arrow of Dispelling just before triggering a Time Trap set her up for the kill.



Now with a goodly number of lacky drow gathered by the entrance and plenty of spells remaining for the real Sendai, Alisa decided to take a few buffs. 



She promptly cleared the battlefield and put an end to Archer Sendai.


With just the hapless assassin statue on the field, Alisa ws free to focus on prepping for the real Sendai. She established a batch of time traps to the south, full buffed herself, and then diced Asssasin Sendai when it well suited her.


Finally, the big moment: Sendai herself. Remember what I said about this being anticlimactic? Yeah, well, that's an understatement. I had expected Sendai to get her buffs up, cast Time Stop, call in her celestials and then gamely challenge Alisa to navigate through a morass of spell effects and demons untill an opening emerged. None of that happened. Instead, one of the Invisible Stalkers that gates in with Sendai set off Alisa's Time Traps granting Alisa the opportunity to finish Sendai immediately. 

I was sort of bummed about this and decided to let the first Time Trap expire without attacking- hoping time would resume after a single trap. But it soon became clear that all four had been triggered leaving Alisa with an awkward choice: finish her now, or fight her without any Time Traps at all. Ulimately, I decided to end her: they'll be plenty of time for drama at The Throne.


While the ending was a bit of a let down, on balance it was a fun fight. Arcane rogues can dazzle with their power, but it can also be  fun to play them as resourceful improvisors. Sendai and her statues gave a Alisa a chance to put on her trickster hat. I'm glad she had that opportunity- even if I do wish the final fight had been more satisfying.

I'll post on Alisa's return to Amkethan next.

Best,

A. 

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 10 juin 2013 - 02:35 .

[corey_russell]

Looking great, Alesia! Here's hoping Alisa gets on the Hall of Heroes...

[Gate70]

Grond0 wrote...while reviewing the contents of her backpack

Ah, I wonder if that was something to do with it - to go with the glitchy moments which see us booted out of stores mid sale/purchase.

[Alesia_BH]

corey_russell wrote...

Looking great, Alesia! Here's hoping Alisa gets on the Hall of Heroes...

Thanks Corey. I do hope Alisa makes it. She's been a long time favorite character and yet this is my first full playthrough with her. It would be nice to see her emerge victorious.

Truthfully though, she doesn't feel any closer to victory now than she has at any prior stage of her adventure. At outset I pretty much assumed that this would be a run decided at The Throne: I didn't expect any of the pre-endgame encounters to challenge her. The Sarevok fight ended up being a touch trickier than anticipated due to Alisa's in ability to connect with her Arrows of Dispelling, but aside from that it's been a smooth ride as expected. Getting to this point is basically par to my mind.

It's not hard to imagine things going flooey at The Throne however. As you've probably noticed, Alisa has for some time now been fighting either Tenser locked or under Time Stop. Mel will seriously curtail her ability to do either. It's likely to be a long, scrappy battle and if she misses a Focus at any time then it's Time Stop->Teleport Without Error->Greater Whirlwind->Game Over. I have no doubt that there are no reload worthy strategies for jesters in the final Ascension, but I'm not entirely confident that I'll find one in a first attempt: I've never done the fight with a bard of any flavor.

Anyhoo. We'll see how it goes. Thanks again for the well wishes!

Best,

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 10 juin 2013 - 08:22 .